"Brother" Kenki greets the teen sitting behind one of the market's stalls.

"Good morning, Brother" the outer disciple reciprocates the gesture, standing up from his stool and politely nodding. "Did one of the weapons on display catch your eye?"

"One indeed did." Kenki points to a weapon not on display, one that had been hidden in the back "Is that bow for sale?"

"Eh" the disciple turns around, following Kenki's line of sight to the dark corner behind the stall "The bow?" He asks in surprise "I guess that it is?"

"How much, I'll buy it!"

"Are you certain, brother? There's a reason why bows are impossible to find in the markets, they're just plain awful weapons for cultivators. If you need to fight at range why not just climb the steps to the heavenly library and find a technique that suits you there?"

"Aren't you supposed to be ecstatic now that you've found a sucker that wishes to buy the weapons that nobody wants?" Kenki responds with a frown, eyeing the youth in front of him critically "Or is it shoddily made, it's not going to break the moment I draw the string, is it?"

"No no, not at all, Brother." The teen waves his hands in denial, a drop of sweat forming on his forehead out of nervousness "I am just making certain. I would not wish to be tracked down and beaten half to death in retaliation for knowingly selling you a useless weapon."

"Hmph" Kenki snorts "How about this, I'll rid you of that bow and even throw in a little extra treat and buy this dagger alongside it" Ken picks up one of the weapons on display. It is quite the long one, bordering on the edge between an actual dagger and a shortsword. "No refunds, no tracking you down later because of my own stupid decisions. In return I just want to test the bow's strength, how does that sound, brother?"

"That sounds… good?" The teen says, uncertain of himself "Brother, I just want to make sure, you are a cultivator with the elements of both fire and light, yes?"

"I am" Ken conjures up his Qi in the palm of his hand, creating a marble sized sun, fully aware that the action would cause emotions to well up in the youth in front of him. Now what those emotions are, he could not now. Fear, respect, jealousy, wariness, or maybe all of them at once? He just knows that demonstrating his attunements would be beneficial for the negotiation, the disciple in front of him would think twice before deciding to scam him.

The fake sun lasts for barely a second before Ken extinguishes it. "How could you tell?" He asks the stall owner.

"It has to do with my technique, Spring Sparrow's Eyes, it can be found on the first floor of the library." The teen helpfully explains as he goes over to grab the bow.

Ken appraises the weapon with a critical eye as it is handed to him. The shape is there, obviously, it's just that the bow is almost twice the size of the one he'd been used to wielding back in Northern River's Village. The wood that it is made out of is yellowish-brown in color with curious swirling grain patterns.

"Huh.." Ken cannot help but exclaim outwardly when he tugs on the black string of the bow.

It does not budge.

Ken decides to take a proper archery pose to test its strength at that new discovery, pulling on the string as hard as his body is capable of.

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What kind of wood is this thing made of? Ken's nose scrunches up as he only manages to pull the string back a measly inch or two. He briefly contemplates conjuring up an arrow of fire and light, to test how far it would fly when the string is released.

The idea is viciously stomped down in his mind. Not only would it cause a large commotion. Using offensive techniques in the market is strictly forbidden, heavy punishments imposed on those that break the rule.

It was nothing more than the moment's desire anyways.

"Brother" Ken says after letting go of the string "Although I'll admit any day of the week that I am far from the strongest person out there this is still ridiculous. I'll buy it, even though I can just barely use it now it will serve me well in the higher stages of the initiate realm" He shakes his head with a smile. "Do you know the type of wood that was used for crafting it?"

"I do not, but I can get in touch with the disciple that made the bow, if you would like? He should be still be an apprentice in the artisan sector of the outer sect"

"Maybe another time" Ken slings the bow over his shoulder "I'll come find you if I need to get in touch with them. On a more important note, how much are the bow and dagger worth?"

============================

Several Days Later

Is this the place? Kenki's neck slightly bends as he directs his gaze to the top of the building in front of him.

The jade necklace moves, dragged by an invisible force. It has the same function as a compass, Ken had been surprised to find, and the place it is leading the boy to is exactly the structure in front.

Well, it is positioned far away from the other regions of the outer sect. Ken thinks as he continues walking forwards. To the left and right of him there is only grassland as well as the occasional tree. Not a single other man-made structure to be seen, other than the paved road of course. If one were to turn around and gaze at the distance they would just barely be able to see the faint outlines of the residential area.

'What's interesting is that this necklace follows the roads. It did not lead me in a single straight line, cutting through buildings and hills, instead charting a path for me to follow' Ken hangs the necklace by the chain. It gently tugs on his hand, as if blown by the wind. The item does not point to the building in front of him per se, it just follows the length of the not so straight road.

'Have they figured out how to do programming? It's incredibly likely that they have. This empire is millions of years old after all. And it took humanity on earth only about five-hundred years to go from Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton, past chemistry and basic physics, to landing people on the moon and modern computers. In retrospect, having a GPS capable of charting a course to your destination seems like a very basic thing.' Ken takes a deep breath now that he stands in front of the front door of the building. His bow and dagger are with him, he'd had some time to prepare for the expedition after advancing to the second stage. Five days to be precise.

Two techniques had been diligently studied in that time. Sun fist and Flash Step; Offense and mobility.

'With me managing to bend the Sun fist technique into an arrow at the very last moment I should be more than prepared for what is to come.' It is the sole reason why Ken had chosen that technique. Because it seemed easy to manipulate into doing what he desired.

The boy pushes the doors open, they creak out a characteristic wooden sound.

"Yo!" A floating red-haired man calls out, he's laying on his side the same way one would lay on a bed. Well, except that he's flying "Let's see here." The man says as a flick of his finger snaps the jade necklace out of Kenki's hand.

"Aah, Kaito. Welcome, welcome! This is your first time trying to pass this exam, right?" The man says in a friendly voice, tossing the necklace back to Kenki. "My name is Ryo, by the way~"

"First time?" Ken decides to ask "And this is an exam? I thought we only got one of these." he glances around the room. Several other disciples in black robes could be seen lounging around. Some were looking at him with curious eyes, some were lost in a world of their own, not caring about his arrival.

"Of course it's an exam!" Ryo responds before Ken has a chance to deliberate any further on the disciples that will be accompanying him to the Emerald Forest. "The sect would not want its overly ambitious disciples to get their flames snuffed out before they even have a chance to spread their wings, would it? My duty is to make certain that everyone can take care of themselves in the outer reaches of the Emerald Forest. The inscriptions in the sect will simply repel you should you attempt to get close to the forest before passing the exam.

Ryo claps his hands, moving his eyes away from Kenki. "Now then! Everyone please stand at attention" the man speaks, his voice amplified by his intent. All eyes turn to the cultivator.

"Whoa" he excitedly exclaims "Now that I think about it there are so many early risers today. There's still half an hour left before the deadline but it appears that all of my precious disciples have already gathered. Little Kaito here was the last one." Ryo rubs his chin.

'Forty-seven in total, about half of them are here for their repeat try at the exam, the others are all complete newbies. I'll probably have to turn Kaito around due to a lack of offensive strength, he's only been in the outer sect for a short seven days, and it usually takes a month or two to advance to the second stage. Not many opportunities to learn how to fight, if any. But there's also the fact that he's a natural cultivator,' Ryo deliberates.

'That's fine though, coaching the disciples that have failed is also one of my duties. But the bow that he is carrying… an interesting choice.'

"Since there's so much eagerness jumping around, what's the point of delaying any further?"

It's time to test their firepower.